Quality of Service (QoS)

An unreliable internet connection can sometimes be an unfortunate fact of life.

But when a poor connection starts to affect services like video calling or telephony, it’s more than just an annoyance.

It’s a hindrance to performing activity crucial to smooth business operations, like remote working or keeping in touch with friends and family.

And if you’re managing a network, or offering internet access as a service, it’s vital to ensure end-user experience is top-notch.

One means of achieving this is through Quality of Service (QoS).

What is QoS?

In a city during rush hour, some traffic is usually prioritised over others.

As in the real world, where traffic lanes can be reserved for buses, emergency vehicles or VIPs, so too can network components such as switches and routers prioritise data traffic.

This standard of prioritisation is known as Quality of Service (QoS).

Data packets are identified and prioritised by their Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) classification.

Online activities that are more dependent on a good, stable internet connection and high throughput identify themselves with a DSCP classification in order to ensure an optimal user experience.

Services such as Voice over IP (VoIP) are amongst the highest priority, as telephony data needs to be transmitted in real-time with no delays.

Other real-time services, such as video conferencing or multimedia streaming, are also DSCP classified and can be prioritised accordingly.

QoS handles such prioritisation either automatically, or manually by a network administrator according to the needs of the organisation.

Why is QoS important?

Implementing QoS ensures the best possible experience for end users. This results in fewer user complaints, and an efficient operation of business-critical services.

QoS is particularly useful in locations where bandwidth is limited or situations where the network load is high, since it aids in avoiding or managing congestion on the network.

By making the most efficient use of available bandwidth, QoS guarantees prioritised services the best available connection around the network and out to the internet.

Everyday tasks such as web browsing or file downloads are in turn maintained at ‘best-effort’ – that is, with no prioritisation.

Some examples of services covered by QoS are as follows:

DSCP priority	Service	Notes
Highest		VoIP – usually critical to a business; the slightest fluctuations in service can affect call quality. Packet loss and latency need to be at an absolute minimum.
Higher		Conferencing – more than ever in 2020, services like Microsoft Teams or Zoom need to run with high stability and low latency.
High		Streaming and/or gaming – especially in hospitality situations where guests expect home-from-home internet and experience is all-important, streaming or gaming can also be prioritised. It is nevertheless less sensitive to packet loss and higher latency, so has a lower priority DSCP classification.
Lowest / no DSCP		Web browsing, file transfer, email etc. – as everyday online tasks are not reliant on a real-time stream of information, the effects of network congestion are not so critical. Some services mark data packets with DSCP Class 0 (no priority); unmarked packets are handled at the same lowest priority.

TRIAX EoC and QoS

All the values of gigabit IP networking, none of the costs of new cables: TRIAX Ethernet over Coax (EoC) is an enterprise-grade 1Gbps IP network over your existing coax cable infrastructure. By re-using TV cables already in place, installation costs are significantly reduced, and it’s good for the planet too.

Adding to a host of professional networking features, EoC Software 2.6.1.r145 introduces QoS traffic priority based on DSCP for all EoC devices.

By default, the EoC Controller automatically maps standard DSCP classifications to a priority queue of 4 levels.

QoS is one of many compelling professional networking features of TRIAX EoC.

To find out more about TRIAX EoC and how it ensures the best possible experience for end users, visit our online pages or contact your local TRIAX office.